Entertainment legend Dick Van Dyke continues to defy expectations about aging, maintaining his lifelong commitment to fitness with regular gym visits three times a week as he approaches his 100th birthday. “I’ve always exercised three days a week,” Van Dyke recently shared. “We go to the gym still, and I think that’s why I’m not stove up like my equals.”
His workout routine has become the talk of his local gym, where fellow actor Ted Danson recalls a particularly inspiring sight. “I would go to the same gym you did, and if I got there early enough, I would see you literally work out on some weight machine,” Danson shared. “And then, almost like you were doing circuit training, you would not walk to the next machine, you’d dance. You literally danced to the next machine.”
“Exactly,” Van Dyke confirmed with characteristic charm. “Good routine.”
The “Mary Poppins” star’s current fitness regimen includes a mix of stretching, sit-ups, and yoga, adapted to suit his age while maintaining his trademark energy and enthusiasm. This dedication to staying active has been a constant throughout his life, even as he’s had to adjust his activities over the years.
In a moment of reflection about aging, Van Dyke once shared with NPR, “I can’t handle the tennis court anymore. I can still run and dance and sing.” He noted that when he asks others what they miss most about their younger years, they often mention specific activities. But for Van Dyke, the key has always been staying active in whatever way possible.
His commitment to fitness has certainly paid off. At 95, he was still performing backflips and showing off his exercise moves in the backyard of his Malibu home. “So all you old guys out there, listen to me,” he encouraged during a CBS This Morning interview. “I’m telling you, you can keep going.”
As he edges closer to becoming a centenarian, Van Dyke maintains his characteristic optimism and zest for life. “I’m almost 100. This is insane,” he recently remarked with his trademark humor. With the same spirit that has defined his entire career, he continues to prove that age truly is just a number, one dance step at a time.
